Facebook 1.3.0 for Android was released yesterday, and it shows off a much needed visual overhaul, as well as some new features which give the app a new lease on life. Facebook’s app has been no stranger to criticism, and we’ve seen posts on many sites opining about the areas where it lacks. We’ll give you the scoop on what’s great, and what’s still not so great, after the break.

Facebook’s new Home screen has reworked icons, much similar to what can be found on the main site. A horizontal photo on the lower half of the screen provides quick links to recently posted photos on your friends’ Walls. The notification counter has been moved to the very bottom of the screen — no longer requiring an icon tap and leaving the Home screen — and indicates the number of waiting notifications in red, just like on the website. The notification bar slides up from the bottom, in a departure from the familiar Android UX of pulling bars down from the top. However, this makes it less likely that you’ll accidentally grab the Android Notification shade instead, so I’m OK with this change. (Compare this to the NYTimes app’s topic shade, which is directly below the main system shade and a little harder to manipulate.)

Let’s delve deeper into the app. One of the most common complaints about older versions of the Facebook app is that it opened the browser to the Mobile Facebook site (m.facebook.com) in order to complete actions not supported by the app. For instance, while the app would notify you about new friend requests, there was no way to accept/ignore them from within the app: clicking the notification would open the Mobile site where the requests could be managed. The new version of Facebook supports many more actions natively, without opening the Browser.

Facebook 1.3.0 supports responding to friend requests and event invitations from within the app. Friend requests can be confirmed or ignored, but there doesn’t seem to be any additional functionality available. For instance, when confirming a friend online, you’re given options to add them to Friend Groups in order to manage custom privacy settings. In the app, you’re only given a choice of Confirm or Ignore.

You can now respond to Event Invitations as well. By clicking on the RSVP function, a pop-up menu appears with radio buttons to send your RSVP. I did discover that if you don’t respond to an invitation, Facebook sometimes reports it as a “new event invite” in a later notification. Earlier versions didn’t exhibit that behavior.

You can also finally view Videos in the new version, although I did find that some of them wouldn’t play.

So, what features are still missing? A lot of people still mourn the rejection of Facebook Chat by the Android developers, and this version doesn’t change anything in that department. There is still no Facebook Chat support, only “Inbox” messaging. Users who manage Facebook Pages, such as me, still have no way of posting on Pages from within the app.  The Touch site (touch.facebook.com, yes, this is distinct from m.facebook.com as well as the full facebook.com) is a decent workaround for now…

…but Facebook Page support is another feature we’re still waiting for.

In all, Facebook 1.3.0 is finally a competitive app to its brethren on other mobile platforms. The user experience on Android is now much more unified, and there is almost no need to open a web browser anymore. For some people who need more advanced features, such as posting on Pages, the Touch site is still a usable workaround. And for you social butterflies who love Facebook Chat, you’ll still need to use a third-party app such as Meebo, AIM, or Beem to chat it up with your friends. Facebook 1.3.0 is definitely a big step forward, and I hope that the next steps come even faster.

(PS: there are at least 5 different ways to get your Facebook on with Android… Facebook app, the Touch site, Mobile site, and full site, and third party apps… a feature-complete Facebook app would make all those sites unnecessary on Android. –B)